Guich

Guich tribes, Gish tribes, or Jaysh tribes (Arabic: ڭيش, romanized: gīsh or Arabic: جيش, romanized: jaysh / jīsh, lit. 'Army'), or sometimes Makhzen tribes, were tribes of usually Arab origin organized by the sultans of Moroccan dynasties under the pre-colonial Makhzen regime to serve as troops and military garrisons, as well as to protect the outskirts of the capital and suppress rebellions. They were usually cantoned in their own lands and maintained a state of perpetual military mobilization. The contingents were formed in order to be loyal to the sultan only instead of to other local interests, but they often maintained a coherent group identity long after the death of the sultan and were sometimes the source of political instability. The historical guich system took shape primarily under the reign of the 'Alawid sultan Mawlay Isma'il, although variations of similar military organisations were used by prior rulers and dynasties.

Prior to the reign of Mawlay Isma'il, most historical dynasties in Morocco generally rose to power via a particular tribe or coalition of tribes whose interests were aligned with the ruling elite. The Almoravids, Almohads, and Marinids, for example, each originated from, and were largely supported by, particular Amazigh (Berber) tribal confederations, such as the Lamtuna, Masmuda, and Zenata (respectively). Mawlay al-Rashid, the effective founder of the later 'Alawid Sultanate of Morocco, also combined his personal recruits from supportive Arab and Berber tribes with the existing remnants of the Cheraga as well, garrisoning them in forts like the Kasbah Cherarda in Fez.

However it was Mawlay Isma'il, the brother and successor of al-Rashid who ruled for 55 years between 1672 and 1727, who institutionalised the guich system to an unprecedented degree. He was motivated to do so by a desire to create a strong central government which was not hampered by reliance on any particular ethnic or regional group, conceiving his own authority as absolute and above all else. He still recruited locals into the army, but he detached them from their personal tribal affiliations and integrated them into a regular army. This army consisted mostly of Arab warriors from the Banu Ma'qil and other southern tribes. The most important of these groups was commonly known as the Udayas (also spelled Wadaya, Oudaya, or Oudaia), after one of the Arab tribes that lived on the Haouz plains near Marrakesh and made up a significant part of their ranks.

For example, under the unstable reign of Mawlay Abdallah between 1729 and 1757 the city of Fez was in recurring conflict with the Udayas. They Udayas became one of Mawlay Abdallah's main pillars of support, but then became the main challenge to the power of his son and successor, Muhammad ibn Abdallah. In 1760 Muhammad was forced to march an army to Fez where he arrested their leaders and destroyed their contingents, killing many of their soldiers. In the aftermath the sultan created a new, much smaller, Udaya regiment which was given new commanders and garrisoned in Meknes instead. The Udayas were brought back to garrison Fez under Muhammad's more violent son and successor, Mawlay Yazid, during his brief reign in 1790–1792. After another episode of troubles in 1820, however, Sultan Abd al-Rahman expelled them from Fez permanently in 1824.